Powered by music

Athletes work hard to reach a state of internal calm, harnessing their mind power to stay intense, but not frantic. Music helps them get into that zone, offering flow, control, focus. It helps them manage the pain of stressing their bodies to levels undreamed of by most three-times-a-week joggers. And it becomes a positive diversion.

“Although your brain is really high-tech, it can’t think about two things at one time,” says sports psychologist Michelle Cleere. “If you have a genre of music that really gets you pumped and keeps you focused, it will distract you from negative thoughts.”

How music affects athletic performance begins with the eighth nerve from the ear, which has two direct tracks: one that involves hearing, and another that goes straight to the vestibular system, that part of the cerebellum that manages balance and some motor functions. The same kinds of messages from the cerebellum that enable us to concentrate also encourage maximum performance. So when the right kind of music hits that eighth nerve, all sorts of good messages get sent to the cerebellum.

Humans are hard-wired to process music, both on a motor level and an emotional one, says Mark Bodner, director of research for the MIND Institute, a nonprofit brain research and education facility in Costa Mesa. “Certain music has certain structures that resonate with certain networks we’re born with,” he says. When those networks overlap with others, it can affect complex motor sequences such as athletic activities.

Music can trigger various emotional responses too, which may explain why athletes seek out certain types of music. Although some of those responses are learned, many of them are inherent. “Even if you’re listening to something passively, it will elicit a very specific response,” Bodner says. “It truly is tapping into something very innate.”

Although each physical part of the brain is connected to particular functions, the brain is also a masterpiece of interconnected systems, and brain waves circulate throughout. Delta waves, for example, are associated with deep sleep, and a drowsy feeling means that theta waves dominate. When adults are awake and alert, but anxious and perhaps too focused, fast beta waves are in action. But in the state of flow, of being in the zone, of being totally relaxed but highly focused, alpha waves organize the brain.

Visualization, deep breathing and listening to music are all techniques used to bolster alpha waves. Athletes in an alpha wave state are charged up, but not so much that performance is marred or that exhaustion hits long before crossing the finish line.

Looks like I need to work on the playlist for my workouts!

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